This should say enough. If you are a DIY it means that you should be ready to accept the consequences, including bad work, or the fact your
time is only worth $3.00 per hour. I understand the frustration of homeowners or contractors when people don't show up or do what they
are supposed to do. Also, there is a severe shortage of qualified plasterers, but still it is worth the wait for quality.

Other reasons for excessive cracking:

Finish coat cracking:
Too much lime in the finish coat, mortar too rich in the finish,
sand too fine.
    Most cracks only occur in the finish coat. These superficial cracks
may not be a danger of water infiltration, they can be avoided.

Lack of bond:

This is a source of larger deeper cracks, and loose areas.
Frequent causes:
    Finish coat doesn't bond when resurfacing.
    Brown coat too slick.
    Bonding agent failure.
    Inexperience.

Excessive cracking in the brown coat:

   Sand in the brown coat too dirty or too fine.
   Sand should be a yellow color and not too fine.
   A red or brown color indicates too much red clay or dirt in the
sand.

Thanks so much to Paul and Melissa from Louisiana to put
all the points into one downloadable .doc file. To download all,
please click here.